Alyeska, the pipeline management company first assumed responsibility for the cleanup, in accordance with the area's contingency planning.

1
Alyeska, the pipeline management company first
assumed responsibility for the cleanup, in
accordance with the area's contingency planning.

• Three methods were tried in the effort to clean
  up the spill
• Burning
• Mechanical Cleanup
• Chemical Dispersants

• Preparedness must be strengthened. Exxon was not
  prepared for a spill of this magnitude--nor were
  Alyeska

2
Oil was transferred from the Exxon Valdez (left)
to the Exxon Baton Rouge (right), in a successful
effort to keep the oil remaining on the Exxon
Valdez from spilling into Prince William Sound.
About one-fifth of the oil carried by the Exxon
Valdez was spilled the remaining 42 million
gallons of oil was safely transferred to the
Baton Rouge.
3
After the remaining cargo was offloaded and the
Exxon Valdez was refloated, the vessel was moved
to Outside Bay, southwest of Naked Island, where
temporary repairs were made. Here, you can see it
at anchor in Outside Bay, surrounded by
protective boom.
4
During the first few days of the spill, heavy
sheens of oil, such as the sheen visible in this
photograph, covered large areas of the surface of
Prince William Sound.
5
Gradually the oil spread further and further from
the accident site. Within a week the oil had
spread 90 miles down the coast
6
A trial burn took place during the early stages
of the oil spill. Two ships attached a
fire-resistant boom between them and moved slowly
through the spill until the boom was full of oil.
The two ships then towed it a safe distance from
the spill and the oil was lit. Therefore the
ensuing fire did not endanger the Exxon Valdez or
the oil spill, however, because of continuing
unfavourable weather no further burning was
attempted.
7
As the spilled oil moved across the waters of
Prince William Sound, rescue workers tried to
protect especially sensitive locations, such as
this salmon hatchery in the eastern Sound, which
they surrounded with protective boom. Boom floats
on the water surface and is designed to act as a
barrier to oil.
8
Beginning 3 days after the vessel grounded, a
storm pushed large quantities of fresh oil onto
the rocky shores of many of the beaches in the
Knight Island chain. In this photograph, pooled
oil is shown stranded in the rocks.
9
Eleven million gallons of crude oil leaked into
one of the most bountiful marine ecosystems on
the planet, killing 1000 to 2800 sea otters, as
many as 250,000 seabirds, over 300 harbor seals,
and at least 22 orca whales.
Within a week, currents and winds pushed the
slick 90 miles from the site of the mishap, out
of Prince William Sound and into the Gulf of
Alaska. It eventually oozed nearly 600 miles away
from the wreck, contaminating 1,500 miles of
shoreline.
10
Oil being skimmed from the sea surface. Here, two
boats are towing a collection boom. Oil
concentrated within the boom is being picked up
by the skimmer (the vessel at the apex of the
boom).
11
NOAA scientists at work in the spill response
command center at Valdez. Some of their projects
included forecasting the movement and fate of
floating oil, identifying sensitive
environments, evaluating results of surveys of
shoreline oiling, studying the effects of
shoreline cleanup methods,.
and coordinating scientific activities during the
response
12
Workers using high-pressure, hot-water washing to
clean an oiled shoreline. In this treatment
method, used on many Prince William Sound
beaches, oil is hosed from beaches, collected
within floating boom, then skimmed from the water
surface.
13
Bags of Exxon Valdez cleanup debris await
disposal. Much of the debris collected during the
Exxon Valdez cleanup was eventually deposited in
a landfill in Oregon State, the closest facility
certified to properly handle the waste.
14
The Exxon Valdez accident was America's worst oil
spill
The 5bn punitive damages Exxon Mobil was ordered
to pay after America's worst oil spill has been
ruled excessive by a US federal appeals court.
15
Nine years later, Hazelwood starts serving
sentence ANCHORAGE - Capt. Joseph Hazelwood
donned an apron and latex gloves this morning to
work at an Anchorage soup kitchen, where he will
spend the next month doing community service.